BLOG – 35 YEARS AGO BLOG 33

Friday 1st May 1998 was an important day in the history of Glass Creations. In fact, the whole weekend was very important. We, that is Maureen, and I hosted a visit by Scottish members of the British Society of Scientific Glassblowers. I am an Honorary member and a Fellow of the Society and have been the Editor of the BSSG Journal for over thirty years, so the BSSG is like family to me and the visit by scientific glassblowers was really like a family reunion. There were scientific glassblowers from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Strathclyde and Edinburgh University. In fact, that weekend in May there were in Caithness the largest collection of scientific glassblowers ever seen. That maybe a bit of a lie as attending Maureen’s funeral in 2005 there may have been more scientific glassblowers!

I was trained as a scientific glassblower and started working at Dounreay in 1981 in charge of their glassblowing department. As someone not from this area I was known for my glass skills and not who my parents were which I hope is still true. I would rather be known for what I do than being the son of Pat and Alan!

The visit of BSSG Members started in my workshop on the Friday with demonstrations and sharing on techniques/experiences. Most were staying at the Pentland Hotel for a couple of nights. On the Saturday, the group visited my workshop at Dounreay where we met Roy Nelson who at the time was the Dounreay Director. We enjoyed a tour of some of the facilities before returned to the Pentland Hotel for an evening meal at the Hotel, which was a gift from Dounreay, and our guest of Honour was Dr Stephen Cowlam and his wife.

Sunday saw the group travel to Wick and meet Denis Mann in his workshop for some demonstrations of copper wheel engraving. Several members had a go themselves and found just how tricky it is. Also, on Sunday we were lucky to have some private tuition in glassblowing by Jimmy Manson at the Caithness Glass factory.